Laundering machine



Oct. 28, 1952 J. F. BELAIEFF 2,615,320

LAUNDERING MACHINE Filed oct. 9, 1948 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 Oct. 28, 1952 J, F, BELAlFF 2,615,320

K LAUNDERING MACHINE v Filed oct; 9, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 `Patented ct. 28, 1952 so stares par ENT owne` LAUNDE-RING MACHINE, James Frank Belaieff, Col'gny near Geneva,. Switzerland;V assigner to Societe Anonymecdes Usines Jean' Gallay; Geneva, -Switz'erlandja cor- -1 poration ofI Switzerland Application OctoberS, 1948, Serial'of3,690v

In rSwitzerland. Augustl 12, ,1948i fonims.

The presentinvention relates to a laundering.

machine of'simple design and'greateiciency."

This machine comprises a' rotating tub. designed to holdth'e.. clothes to be washecl'and'the washingsolution, the axis of rotation of the tube .being inclined,l preferably between 40. andi 60 with the horizontal.

Being inclined and not allowing any ofthe lquidit. contains to spill out,l the rotating tube sets theclothes. and liquid in movement' in 'such away. that-as wilLbe explainedbelow Vin greater detail-the clothes areY completely cleansed by this motion alone. Consequently the inside of the tube can be quite smooth andno agitating device isrequired, two facts which not only simplifythe construction `of .the machine but en'- able it to be used for washing very delicate articles such as vvoolenl goods, silk underwear, etc., sincetheclothesare not set-in motion by me chanicaLmeans but exclusively by theaction of the liquid.. contained .in the tub'.

In addition to .washing clothes; .the machine of the invention canalso be designed to rinse and spin-dry them. without.. requiring any. construc tional complications. For this purpose thel tub, having a circular. crossfsection,.may.- be made, non-cylindrical, such as. for. instance a truncated cone, and fitted with adraining device;` By rotating the'tube after draining off the liquid' the clothes are driedbycentrifugal action, the shape of the tub causing the liquid to be driven to one of its bases where it is collected by the draining device. Rinsing. is effected by feeding the tub cleanwater whichis subsequently drained off. It is evident, therefore, that the machine can be usedtowash, rinse. and spin-dry clothes in the same tub, which presents the great advantage of eliminating all handling of the clothes wheny wet.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of examples, two constructional embodiments of the invention with which clothes can' not only be washed. but also rinsed and spin-dried; The same reference numbers designate similar members. in the two embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a front'view of one constructional embodiment partly in cross-section.

Figs. 2 and 3' show details of the device for draining the tub in this rst embodiment.

Fig. 4. isa front View similar to Fig. 1 but of a second constructional embodiment.

The machine illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 has a tub I0 in the shape of a truncated cone, the larger.' base of which forms the bottom oi the tub. It would also be feasible, in a general way, to give the tub' ofcircular cross-section any noncylindrical shapewith--unequalbases.: |05 is' mounted' by' a hollow lshaft I I `Whichforms an angle* of aboutv 50y with the horizontalj The motor. I5; also ttcd4I in thev frame III," sets' tub II) in motionl bym-cans of'. a belt Irwhich forinclined axis I'I'. Theinner surface-fof its'v `coni-- cal walll is smoothv and'doesnot presenty any aperture through whichthe liquidcouldes'cape'."

Tub I 0 has gaia'ls'e" bottom" I8 perforated round' the.. edge at' I 9 and"whose-removable'central vportion 20?"isl reinforced" with cross-piecesol;`

The device for draining" the tub comprisesa circular channel 22 situatedf in proximity -to *the larger base ofthe'tubunderthelattersfalse,botL tom' anda pipe 23j The`pipe 23is carri-edibya' fixed 'hollow support- 2li'A whichn passes v'-tl'i'roughf the hollow shaft II. whose ends. are fitted witlia stui'ling-box 25 and arubber washenZS/respectively; The pipe 23L has the' shapel of ia" Pitot tube 'and is streamlined (see'-Fi`gv.= 3')I inorder to offer as little resistance as possible'tothenfibve-l menti.l of the liquid in` the doublel bottom orfth'e tub'. The inlet". aperture. 2'I' of'the pip'eZS is situated 'in the. channel '2.2"'and' is directedf'against the .current/of 'the liquidwhichrotates in tl'redi-v rectionotfthe arrow 23'. Th'ehollow supporti-226i` is ccnnect'edto a' pipe. 29 which" is",` controlled by a three-way cock 3 1communicating with; an exhaust pipe 3| and' a: feed pipe`32:y

The various components of the machine are housed in a cabinet 33 whose aperture 34 coin-r cides with. the-mouth 35 ofthe copper. y Since theseopenings are inclinedat an' angle off' about 55 they have theadvantage of beingA atvv the idealV height. and inclination' for loading' and un"- loading lathe clothes. The top of' the; cabinet is designed to accommodate either a trayfory the clothes onatank for storing the washingsolution.

The machine; described above .operatesas'ffo'llows:

The. tubi is lled'fwith Water by turning. tlie three-way. cock 30 'soas to connectl'thepipe" 29 withthe feed pipe B2i When the waterhaswalmost reached the mouth 35'of thetubthfeicock 30.'is closed'and the clothes and-the soapneeded to wash themareintroduced` through'theopen ingsA 34- andA 35; The lmachine is then l'setiinmo# tion byswitching on the motor-'fl 'byim'eansofi an appropriate switch,

Tub I very rapidly attains its normal speed while the water it contains assumes a rotatory movement gradually because of its friction against the walls and bo-ttom of the tub. The clothes are also set in motion. After a few seconds the water and the clothes reach a certain stable regimen according to which diierent portions of the mass of clothes and the water with Which they come in contact present different relative velocities. This gives a rise to a churning and sudsing action. The water forms a large vortex as a result of the inclination of the tub which has been determined very exactly. The clothes tend to follow the same path but, being more compact, their movement is opposed by the force of gravity. This brings about a con"- siderable difference between the relative velocities of the water and the clothes, and the latter, although pushed towards the wall of the tub by the action of the centrifugal force, fall down into the centre of the vortex as a result of their weight. These differences in velocity and the complex churning action force the water through the material from which all the dirt is removed.

When washing proper is terminated the water is drawn off and the clothes spin-dried. This is done simply by turning the lthree-way cock 3e towards the exhaust pipe 3| while maintaining the tub in movement. The water, which is driven into the channel 22 by the centrifugal force, is caught by the aperture 21 at the extremity of the pipe 23. The dynamic pressure of the water sufiices to overcome the losses of charge in the various pipes and to ensure rapid draining. It also permits the outlet aperture of the pipe 3I Ito be placed at a higher level than its inlet aperture 21, which enables the water to be drawn o into a sink or the like. Since the wa-ter flows continuously through the holes I9 the channel 22 is lled automatically until the tub is completely empty.

While the tub is being drained the regimen is modified without any intervention on the part of the person operating the machine. water sinks to a certain level washing is immediately replaced by centrifugation. Thisis due yto the fact that when for a given load of clothes the quantity of water is reduced the relative velocities of water and clothes, on which the washing action depends, diminish by degrees'until the tub, the liquid and the clothes rotate practically at the same speed. At this point the centrifugal force predominates and the water and clothes are pushed against the lateral wall of the tub.

After this point is reached not only is the :tub emptied but the Water retained by the fibres of the material is driven against the conical wall of the tub down which it ows towards the larger base of the truncated cone; there it enters the channel 22 from which it is evacuated by the pipe 23.

When the tub is empty Washing proper is finished and the same cycle of operations is repeated for rinsing and spin-drying the clothes, the tub being refilled with clean water.v

The clothes are spin-dried Without any intervention o-n the partof the person operating the machine. Since rinsing takes a muchshorter time than washing, it suces to turn the cock 30 to drain, letting the tub rotate the while. The

vclothes continue to rotate for a few minutes and are thus subjected :to a vigorous churning action in the clean water which is drawn off little by little. When the level of the water is su'iciently When the low the clothes take up the position of centrifugation of their own accord, so .that spin-drying takes place automatically.

In the constructional embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4 the upper part of the tub Illa has a greater diameter than the bottom. The draining device is also situated in the upper part of the tub; it consists of a channel 22a fashioned in the tub itself and a fixed pipe 23a which passes through the mouth 35 of the copper. The pipe 23a is controlled by a three-way cock, not shown in the drawing, as inthe first embodiment of the invention.

At its larger base the tub is provided with a perforated diaphragm 36 which has a central aperture 3l through which the clothes are loaded and unloaded. The diaphragm 36 prevents the clothes in the tub from coming in contact with the inlet aperture 21a of the pipe 23a. Its purpose is therefore, like that of the member I8 in Fig. 1, to separate the pipe from the part ofthe tub which holds the clothes.

Since there is no opening in the bottom of the tub IIJ nor in its lateral wall, there is no need for a stuffing-box or other watertight joint.l The shaft II which carries :the tub is borne simply by two bearings I2 and I3.

The other components of this machine are similar to those of the first embodiment and its operation is identical except that the water is drawn off from the upper part of the tub, where the diameter is greatest, instead of from the bottom.

The perforated diaphragm 36 can be elimif nated by placing the pipe 23 in a position such that the clothes cannot contact it or be caught by it.

In the two constructional embodiments just described the position of the motor and of the various other components can be altered with a Viewy to changing the appearance of the machine. The motor can be electric or hydraulic and might, for instance, be directly attached to the shaft of the tub. Instead of a single speed, it might have two speeds so as to give the tub a certain velocity for washing and a greater one for spin-drying the clothes.

Needlessl to say, it is also possible to t the tub with a removable basket for holding the clothes; this basket would rotate with the tub.

What is lclaimed is:

l. A laundering machine comprising, in combination, a wash tub of generally circular crosssection having one end of a larger diameter than the other end, means for rotating the tub about an inclined axis, a generally circumferential channel adjacent to and communicating with the larger diameter end of the tub, said channel having va diameter larger than the larger end of the tub, and a drain pipe mounted in an opening at the larger diameter end of the tub, said drain pipe having an inlet opening adjacent the side wall of the tub in said circumferential channel and adapted to drain off liquid from the tub as a result of rotational movement thereof.

2. A laundering machine as defined in claim l, wherein Valve means is provided connectedto the drain pipe, said valve means being selectively operable to permit the admission and discharge of liquid to and from the drain pipe.

3. Laundering machine as dened in claim l, wherein the tub is substantially frusto-conical.

d. Laundering machine as defined in claim 3,

- wherein the tub is provided at the larger diameter 5 of the tub from the circumferential channel, said channe1 communicating with said through perforations in the false bottom.

5. A laundering machine comprisinginv come bination, a Wash tub of generally circular cross-V section having one end of a larger diameter than the other end, and inclined hollow shaft forming interior a rotatable support for the tub, a circumferential chamber adjacent to and communicating with the 1 largery diameter end of the tub, saidv chamber having a diameter larger than the larger end of the tub, and .a drain pipe arranged radially -in said chamber, the outer end of the drain 'pipe being provided with an inlet openingadjacent the sidewall of the tub and arranged to oppose the direction of movement of liquid upon rotation of the Wash tub and the inner end of the drain pipeV being connected toa discharge conduit y passing through said hollow shaft.

JAMES FRANK BELAIEFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record y ille of this patent:

in the y 

